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SAG Awards: The last chance for an upset?

January 21, 2011 | 2:00
pm

The Producers Guild Awards are Saturday night, and unless that group chooses to go completely against the thinking of all the critics groups and the Golden Globes, "The Social Network" should walk away with the best picture win, continuing its streak that began with the National Board of Review Award in early December. (It doesn't hurt "Social Network's" chances that its producer, Scott Rudin, is being honored with the David O. Selznick Award.)

That leaves the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 30 as the only real chance for an upset. The group, at 93,000, is the largest to vote on any guild award. Its members are also the least likely to follow the lead of the critics, because they often spend much of their careers at odds with critics.

As such, Oscar marketers are targeting the group heavily. Sony Pictures sent "Social Network" screeners to the entire membership as well as gave them an iTunes download option. Paramount Pictures, Focus Features and Fox Searchlight all courted the members with the iTunes screeners. And, according to SAG's website, both "Rabbit Hole" and "The King's Speech" have also been added to the iTunes queue.

SAG also represents the largest voting bloc of the academy, with just under 1,200 members. And should the guild go the way of "The King's Speech" or "The Fighter," there could be a small chance that "The Social Network" will get hit by an upset at the Oscars. That is, of course, a giant long shot, but it's the one the other films are still fighting for.